Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Swim Like A Champion (a real life journal)

Breeze · 02-14-2017, 10:14 AM

Georgia Age Group State Championships @ GaTech - 2/17 - 2/19

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Bailey

#15 Girls 100 Yard Butterfly – 1:01.25 : 20th Seed – The coach is working with Bailey on trying to get her to move more forward with her stroke rather than the drastic up and down she’s recently developed. Actually, I think she developed this up and down on the coaches urging to grab more water by pressing the chest down driving the hips up but keeping the elbows high in order to grab more water. Think about pressing your chest down and pushing your arms behind your torso with the elbows bent and arms raise above your head. This position allows for more water grab cause the arms travel further through the water. The only problem is - it's a hard position to get into, and Bailey tends to collapse her arms creating a later grab and thus less propulsion and speed. Hopefully, she nails this correction for this meet. She’s already at a disadvantage because of her small size. She’s literally 4 to 6 inches shorter than most of the girls swimming her time or faster in this event. Looking to go sub60…

#47 Girls 400 Yard IM – 4:55.19 : 34th Seed – This is the one event where Bailey has the state cut, but not the sectionals cut. She should be shooting for a 4:49.49 in order to earn that cut time (even though she’s probably going to skip the Sectionals meet). She needs to get back to her quick fly, power through the back and then be solid in the back half. I’ll probably know pretty quickly after the fly is she’s going to make a charge. If her time is under 1:03, she could do well, but if she’s in the 1:04s where she’s been most of this season, we are looking at a time somewhere around 5 minutes. The breast leg will also be a key. She was getting it down into the 42 high/ 50 yard range, but recently she’s been back at her time just below 45 seconds, which isn’t going to cut it.

#77 Girls 200 Yard Butterfly – 2:13.79 : 13th Seed – Same issues as the 100, but the lack of height is less of a factor in this grueling race. I’m proud of Bailey that she still finds herself in the top 20, with a shot at top 10 and an “A” final appearance if she can nail this stroke adjustment. If she can get down to a 2:11.59, she’ll earn her senior sectional time and be moved up to the National Team with Gold.

RELAYS

#25 Girls 13-14, 400 Yard Free : B Relay – Being the B Relay the team won’t do much, but I’ll be interested to see how quickly Bailey swims her leg. It may give me some insight into what to expect next month at her other taper meet.

#63 Girls 13-14, 400 Yard Medley : A Relay – Bailey will obviously swim the fly leg, assuming she beats the girls swimming on the B relay in with 100 Fly earlier in the meet. The team will be pretty pedestrian in the overall standings. Probably finishing fifth or sixth in the state.

#69 Girls 13-14, 200 Yard Medley : A Relay – same basic set up as the 400 outlined above.

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Bear

#4 Boys 200 Yard IM – 2:09.57 : 27th Seed – This will basically be a warm up for Bear. As a 27th seed, Bear doesn’t expect much. He also knows that often his first swim isn’t all that great, so this will get that first swim out of the way. I do think he could improve a great deal, especially if his breaststroke is strong. I’m pretty sure he did a 2:08 in a high school meet with no taper in an environment that didn’t allow a good warm up or down. He should shoot for a 2:05 in order to get his senior cut for next season.

#16 Boys 100 Yard Butterfly – 58.39 : 19th Seed – 55.99 is the cut time for next season. I don’t think he’s getting there, but he could get into the 56s, which would set him up nicely for next season.

#20 Boys 1000 Yard Freestyle – 10:09.27 : 1st Seed – Bear is seeded first but there are 2 other guys within 2 seconds of his time. And one is his high school teammate that has been shedding time all season. Plus with this event, people can drop 30 seconds at a drop of a hat. So Bear will be in for a battle, which might be good. Maybe it will push him to race and not worry so much about stroke mechanics. Also maybe it will drive him to a great time (win or lose). This could be one very exciting distance race.

#36 Boys 200 Yard Free – 1:52.15 : 9th Seed – The senior state cut is a 1:49.49. That’s a good goal time for Bear. If he swims well the first day, this goal time is something he could legitimately hit. If he swims only ok, I don’t think he’ll be able to drop 3 full seconds…

#48 Boys 400 Yard IM – 4:28.79 : 8th Seed – For Bear this will come down to Back and endurance. He needs a good back leg followed by a strong back half (including his improved breast) in order to drop time. He could drop several seconds, but I don’t think he will get to the senior cut time of 4:23. However, not getting a senior cut when you are 14/15 isn’t terrible, considering the time is in place for 18 and unders. It really isn’t intended for 14 and 15 year olds to reach those speeds.

#78 Boys 200 Yard Butterfly – 2:06.56 : 5th Seed – This is one Bear should be able to get the senior cut in. He only needs to drop 1 second to get the senior cut, and he can do that without even swimming well. The shave/taper could really drive him to a 2:05 by itself.

#88 Boys 500 Yard Freestyle – 4:59.71 : 6th Seed – Bear needs to cut 5 seconds to get the senior cut in this one. The 1000 will probably be a good indicator on his chances. If he goes sub 10 minutes, then going 4:54 seems reasonable.

RELAYS

#26 Boys 13-14, 400 Free : A Relay – Bear slips onto the A relay for the boys 400 Free. Bear doesn’t have the state cut for the 100 Free, so I don’t expect this relay will compete for a top 3 spot, but if Bear takes his taper well he could post a 51 mid or low split, which might give them an outside shot.

#32 Boys 13-14, 200 Free : B Relay – Bear not being on a A relay isn’t really a surprise here. Bear gets better the further he swims, and he doesn’t get to do the 50 Free very often, which hinders his chances of posting a good time, as well as limits his knowledge of the best way to attack the race.

#64 Boys 13-14, 400 Medley : B Relay – Bear gets the free leg on the B Relay. He actually did pretty well just to get on this relay at all. He wasn’t going to get the Breast leg for sure. His back is pretty stagnate right now, and there is a 13 year old pounding out 56 second flys…so that only left free and as I mentioned above Bear gets better the longer the race, so just getting on this team is an accomplishment.

#70 Boys 13-14, 200 Medley : B Relay – same group as the 400 Medley, and again I think Bear did well just to get on this relay.

02-14-2017, 10:14 AM	#846
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Georgia Age Group State Championships @ GaTech - 2/17 - 2/19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bailey *#15 Girls 100 Yard Butterfly – 1:01.25 : 20th Seed* – The coach is working with Bailey on trying to get her to move more forward with her stroke rather than the drastic up and down she’s recently developed. Actually, I think she developed this up and down on the coaches urging to grab more water by pressing the chest down driving the hips up but keeping the elbows high in order to grab more water. Think about pressing your chest down and pushing your arms behind your torso with the elbows bent and arms raise above your head. This position allows for more water grab cause the arms travel further through the water. The only problem is - it's a hard position to get into, and Bailey tends to collapse her arms creating a later grab and thus less propulsion and speed. Hopefully, she nails this correction for this meet. She’s already at a disadvantage because of her small size. She’s literally 4 to 6 inches shorter than most of the girls swimming her time or faster in this event. Looking to go sub60… *#47 Girls 400 Yard IM – 4:55.19 : 34th Seed* – This is the one event where Bailey has the state cut, but not the sectionals cut. She should be shooting for a 4:49.49 in order to earn that cut time (even though she’s probably going to skip the Sectionals meet). She needs to get back to her quick fly, power through the back and then be solid in the back half. I’ll probably know pretty quickly after the fly is she’s going to make a charge. If her time is under 1:03, she could do well, but if she’s in the 1:04s where she’s been most of this season, we are looking at a time somewhere around 5 minutes. The breast leg will also be a key. She was getting it down into the 42 high/ 50 yard range, but recently she’s been back at her time just below 45 seconds, which isn’t going to cut it. *#77 Girls 200 Yard Butterfly – 2:13.79 : 13th Seed* – Same issues as the 100, but the lack of height is less of a factor in this grueling race. I’m proud of Bailey that she still finds herself in the top 20, with a shot at top 10 and an “A” final appearance if she can nail this stroke adjustment. If she can get down to a 2:11.59, she’ll earn her senior sectional time and be moved up to the National Team with Gold. *RELAYS* *#25 Girls 13-14, 400 Yard Free : B Relay* – Being the B Relay the team won’t do much, but I’ll be interested to see how quickly Bailey swims her leg. It may give me some insight into what to expect next month at her other taper meet. *#63 Girls 13-14, 400 Yard Medley : A Relay* – Bailey will obviously swim the fly leg, assuming she beats the girls swimming on the B relay in with 100 Fly earlier in the meet. The team will be pretty pedestrian in the overall standings. Probably finishing fifth or sixth in the state. *#69 Girls 13-14, 200 Yard Medley : A Relay* – same basic set up as the 400 outlined above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bear *#4 Boys 200 Yard IM – 2:09.57 : 27th Seed –* This will basically be a warm up for Bear. As a 27th seed, Bear doesn’t expect much. He also knows that often his first swim isn’t all that great, so this will get that first swim out of the way. I do think he could improve a great deal, especially if his breaststroke is strong. I’m pretty sure he did a 2:08 in a high school meet with no taper in an environment that didn’t allow a good warm up or down. He should shoot for a 2:05 in order to get his senior cut for next season. *#16 Boys 100 Yard Butterfly – 58.39 : 19th Seed* – 55.99 is the cut time for next season. I don’t think he’s getting there, but he could get into the 56s, which would set him up nicely for next season. *#20 Boys 1000 Yard Freestyle – 10:09.27 : 1st Seed* – Bear is seeded first but there are 2 other guys within 2 seconds of his time. And one is his high school teammate that has been shedding time all season. Plus with this event, people can drop 30 seconds at a drop of a hat. So Bear will be in for a battle, which might be good. Maybe it will push him to race and not worry so much about stroke mechanics. Also maybe it will drive him to a great time (win or lose). This could be one very exciting distance race. *#36 Boys 200 Yard Free – 1:52.15 : 9th Seed* – The senior state cut is a 1:49.49. That’s a good goal time for Bear. If he swims well the first day, this goal time is something he could legitimately hit. If he swims only ok, I don’t think he’ll be able to drop 3 full seconds… *#48 Boys 400 Yard IM – 4:28.79 : 8th Seed* – For Bear this will come down to Back and endurance. He needs a good back leg followed by a strong back half (including his improved breast) in order to drop time. He could drop several seconds, but I don’t think he will get to the senior cut time of 4:23. However, not getting a senior cut when you are 14/15 isn’t terrible, considering the time is in place for 18 and unders. It really isn’t intended for 14 and 15 year olds to reach those speeds. *#78 Boys 200 Yard Butterfly – 2:06.56 : 5th Seed* – This is one Bear should be able to get the senior cut in. He only needs to drop 1 second to get the senior cut, and he can do that without even swimming well. The shave/taper could really drive him to a 2:05 by itself. *#88 Boys 500 Yard Freestyle – 4:59.71 : 6th Seed* – Bear needs to cut 5 seconds to get the senior cut in this one. The 1000 will probably be a good indicator on his chances. If he goes sub 10 minutes, then going 4:54 seems reasonable. *RELAYS* *#26 Boys 13-14, 400 Free : A Relay* – Bear slips onto the A relay for the boys 400 Free. Bear doesn’t have the state cut for the 100 Free, so I don’t expect this relay will compete for a top 3 spot, but if Bear takes his taper well he could post a 51 mid or low split, which might give them an outside shot. *#32 Boys 13-14, 200 Free : B Relay* – Bear not being on a A relay isn’t really a surprise here. Bear gets better the further he swims, and he doesn’t get to do the 50 Free very often, which hinders his chances of posting a good time, as well as limits his knowledge of the best way to attack the race. *#64 Boys 13-14, 400 Medley : B Relay* – Bear gets the free leg on the B Relay. He actually did pretty well just to get on this relay at all. He wasn’t going to get the Breast leg for sure. His back is pretty stagnate right now, and there is a 13 year old pounding out 56 second flys…so that only left free and as I mentioned above Bear gets better the longer the race, so just getting on this team is an accomplishment. *#70 Boys 13-14, 200 Medley : B Relay* – same group as the 400 Medley, and again I think Bear did well just to get on this relay. Last edited by Breeze : 02-14-2017 at 02:40 PM.